Name: Kaitlin Simpson's review of The First Sister by Linden Lewis
Item: The First Sister
Rating: 2
Author: Kaitlin Simpson

Linden Lewis

FIRST SISTER HAS NO NAME, AND NO VOICE She's a priestess of the Sisterhood, traveling the stars alongside the soldiers of Earth who own the rights to her body and soul. When her former captain abandons her, First Sister's hopes for freedom are dashed and she is forced to stay on her ship with no friends, no status, and a new captain she knows nothing about. When the Mother, leader of her order, asks her to spy on Captain Saito Ren, First Sister discovers that sacrificing for the war effort is so much harder to do when your loyalties are split. LITO VAL LUCIUS HAS NO FAITH, AND NO LOYALTY. He climbed his way out of the slums to become an elite soldier of Venus, but now he's haunted by his failures and the loss of his partner Hiro. But when Lito learns that Hiro is alive, but a traitor, and he's assigned to hunt Hiro down, and kill them, Lito must decide what he is actually fighting for - the society that raised him, or himself. As the battle to control Ceres reaches a head, Lito and First Sister must decide what - and whom - they are willing to sacrifice in the name of duty, or for love.

The First Sister

Linden A. Lewis

Combining the social commentary of The Handmaid’s Tale with the white-knuckled thrills of Red Rising, this epic space opera filled with “lush prose” (Publishers Weekly) follows a comfort woman as she claims her agency, a soldier questioning his allegiances, and a non-binary hero out to save the solar system. First Sister has no name and no voice. As a priestess of the Sisterhood, she travels the stars alongside the soldiers of Earth and Mars—the same ones who own the rights to her body and soul. When her former captain abandons her, First Sister’s hopes for freedom are dashed when she is forced to stay on her ship with no friends, no power, and a new captain—Saito Ren—whom she knows nothing about. She is commanded to spy on Captain Ren by the Sisterhood, but soon discovers that working for the war effort is much harder when you’re falling in love. Lito val Lucius climbed his way out of the slums to become an elite soldier of Venus but was defeated in combat by none other than Saito Ren, resulting in the disappearance of his partner, Hiro. When Lito learns that Hiro is both alive and a traitor to the cause, he now has a shot at redemption: track down and kill his former partner. But when he discovers recordings that Hiro secretly made, Lito’s own allegiances are put to the test. Ultimately, he must decide between following orders and following his heart. With “a layered, action-filled plot and diverse characters” (Library Journal), The First Sister explores the power of technology, colonization, race, and gender and is perfect for fans of James S.A. Corey, Chuck Wendig, and Jay Posey.

blake

Mina Færing

Kaitlin Simpson

Started strong, but weak second half

The story started off strong but around halfway through the book I started to get disinterested. The first sister plot line is more interesting than the space fighter plot line. I didn’t like how it switched from POVs so frequently especially when I didn’t like one of the character’s arcs. I would pass on this.

Combining the social commentary of The Handmaid’s Tale with the white-knuckled thrills of Red Rising, this epic space opera follows a comfort woman as she claims her agency, a soldier questioning his allegiances, and a non-binary hero out to save the solar system. First Sister has no name and no voice. As a priestess of the Sisterhood, she travels the stars alongside the soldiers of Earth and Mars—the same ones who own the rights to her body and soul. When her former captain abandons her, First Sister’s hopes for freedom are dashed when she is forced to stay on her ship with no friends, no power, and a new captain—Saito Ren—whom she knows nothing about. She is commanded to spy on Captain Ren by the Sisterhood, but soon discovers that working for the war effort is so much harder to do when you’re falling in love. Lito val Lucius climbed his way out of the slums to become an elite soldier of Venus, but was defeated in combat by none other than Saito Ren, resulting in the disappearance of his partner, Hiro. When Lito learns that Hiro is both alive and a traitor to the cause, he now has a shot at redemption: track down and kill his former partner. But when he discovers recordings that Hiro secretly made, Lito’s own allegiances are put to the test. Ultimately, he must decide between following orders and following his heart. A stunning and sweeping debut novel that explores the power of technology, colonization, race, and gender, The First Sister is perfect for fans of James S.A. Corey, Chuck Wendig, and Margaret Atwood.

Danny Werhane

Madi Van Houten

Absolutely loved this book.  Couldn’t put it down. Loved the different perspectives and how you felt deeply for the characters on the book. Couldn’t wait to read the rest. 

Jessi

georgia greenway

the plot twist was actually one of the most horrifying and wrong things i can think of. what the fuck. it did not work for me at all, and i can see what the author was trying to do but it just leaves a bad taste in your mouth rather than actually conveying a message.

This was a very solid start to a new series and I can't wait to see where it goes from here. I loved all three perspectives in this book, particularly Hiro because they're a sarcastic little shit and it's awesome. I did not expect the way the three perspectives came together but in hindsight it makes a lot of sense and I already want to reread this book to find all the hints to what went down in the finale, especially since I listened to the audiobook and I just pick up more when I read physically. I loved the worldbuilding here; the two different rival societies both felt very plausible as directions the human race could go in when we inevitably try to jump ship and leave Earth. The flaws, especially, were things that you can already see in our current society and I think Lewis did a great job of extrapolating them into this futuristic setting. After this first book laid bare all of the fault lines in these two societies, I'm very interested to see how our protagonists actually go about changing the things they hate and how entrenched powers are going to respond to them. I can't wait to pick up the second book, which thankfully, since I put off reading this one so long, is already out.

LexieeReads

Honestly, it was pretty forgettable. Nothing to rave and rant about.

Sahi K

CW: sexual assault, medical experimentation, parental and domestic abuse, racism and xenophobia, transphobia

I had seen the cover of this book before but never thought of reading it. And I was almost the same when I kept seeing reviews of the sequel very recently. But suddenly I found the book on sale and as an extreme impulse buyer, I couldn’t resist. And then immediately picked up the book because I was bored of others and this seemed like a perfect fit for one of my readathon prompts. And wow was this an interesting experience. 

I usually read books very quickly, within one or two sittings because I just can’t put a book down when I’m loving it. But I kept reading this one bit by bit everyday, not because I wasn’t enjoying it, but I guess I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind to binge. And this one is not a quick read either. The author’s writing is straightforward, in the sense that it cuts through every pretense and pierces your heart with the myriad of emotions the characters are feeling. The pacing is just right, with quite a bit of time left for contemplation; and this is definitely needed because the author does not shy away from exploring tough themes like discrimination, exploitation, abuse and never ending wars due to scarcity of resources. And just as the book is marketed, it has a very solid religious backdrop based on misogyny just like The Handmaid’s Tale. While this book maybe set in a very distant future, the idea of huge corporations controlling politicians to do whatever they wanted without regulations, and the use of organized religion as a tool for oppression and warmongering felt all too close to our real world. 

The characters here are a bunch who are very easy to sympathize with. One of them is a nameless young woman called First Sister, part of the religious Sisterhood, who has no voice (literally) but it’s very obvious that taking away ones voice and preaching them the canon of a religion endlessly doesn’t mean they will forget their desires, or won’t long for something more than they are allowed to have. There is a strength in her which even she doesn’t realize, and it is this that compels her to make her own decisions instead of letting others decide the course of her life. 

Lito on the other hand is also strong, but his strength is derived both from his training as an elite soldier, as well as the survival instincts he has had to develop to climb up from the lowest rungs of society to a more respectable position. Everything he does is keeping in mind of his sister’s wellbeing and safety, and this sometimes compels him to act in opposition to his beliefs. He is also suffering from ptsd after a failed mission, as well as missing his long time duelist partner who has been separated from him. It’s this grief and emotional turmoil of his that drives most of his story, and it was fascinating to see him grapple with the one after other surprise blows he is dealt with, and realize how he changes as a person as a result of it all. 

Hiro and Ren are two other important side characters whose presence (and absence) deeply affects our main characters. Hiro’s story is told through a series of audio recording fragments before every alternate chapter, addressed to Lito and their backstory is heartbreaking, but they also have a conviction about them to right all the wrongs done to them and I really appreciated their character despite not actually being present on page. Ren is another fascinating character to round out this quartet because she is a war hero which creates certain impressions about her initially, but unraveling her true personality was a delight and the way she helps the young First Sister realize what lies in her heart was wonderful. 

In the end, this was an unexpected surprise of a book which I really enjoyed. It’s definitely not a “fun” book because of all that it deals with, but it is thought provoking, and might make us question what we would do if any of the possible futuristic elements mentioned in this story become our reality. This is full of great characters, lots of emotional depth, and a twist at the end which I did not see coming at all but made perfect sense. I can’t wait to see what The Second Rebel has in store for me.

Jennifer

Wow!! This is really fun and I read most of The First Sister yesterday because this is became a page turner the more pages I've read. Linden A. Lewis' entertaining debut could be described as a hybrid of Red Rising and The Handmaid's Tale, but with queer + diverse characters. From the narratives of three distinct characters and set in extraterrestrial solar system colonies, The First Sister explores the silenced and marginalised voices in this futuristic society.

What I enjoyed:
 
+ Worldbuilding: The best part of The First Sister is the worldbuilding. It's very well-written, diverse, and has a unique concept. One challenge with space operas, is to establish a fictional world in the outer space which feels believable. The extraterrestrial colonies here felt like a society and there are also some distinct science that sets this world apart from the ones set in Earth. While a lot of worldbuilding heavy books suffer from info-dumping, I didn't feel that this is an issue because the necessarily details given ties well to the character headspace and the plots.

+ Characters: I thought The First Sister, Lito, and Hiro - all have pretty distinctive voices throughout the novel. Because a lot in their emotional headspace are fleshed out to explore their experience of being marginalised / silenced as well as them falling in love, I've shelved this under "character-driven". I'm personally most invested in The First Sister's narrative. I thought hers is most engaging because her chapters contained backstories of both her as a character and the worldbuilding. It took me a bit longer to get used to Lito's and Hiro's narratives but I also found theirs redeeming in their own ways: I love that their chapters also shows different parts of the society in the book.

+ Writing: I found the writing to be pretty easy to get into. I also enjoyed how the characters describe their emotions by comparing to cosmic objects, as well as occasional dialogues which made me laugh out loud!

+ Themes: I thought the social commentary here is really impressive. In addition to the queer romance, this is very much a story of the characters finding their voices again in a society that tries to silence / marginalise them. Apart from the themes of marginalisation, I also think the science side of the book made me think about the gray areas regarding to ethics in research / technological advancements.

What could be better:

- Multiple POV's: I must admit, the multiple POV's took me quite a few chapters to get used to, but since many chapters are quite long I usually get the chance to get invested in the narratives. I do think these POV's did a great job building up the climax: I really loved how everything came together in the 2nd half of the novel.

- Pacing: This is related to my early concerns with the multiple POV's. So I found the opening pages a little slow, but apart from that I think this book is overall quite well paced.

To sum it up, this is a highly enjoyable space opera featuring distinct narratives, solid worldbuilding, and engaging characters (written in a calibre rarely seen in debut novels). I'm looking forward to finding out what happens next! I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves Pierce Brown's Red Rising.

N.B. This book contains following triggering content: blood mention, death, physical violence, vomiting

Rina

It took me a while to wrap my head around the world-building, as well as the politics. I found this to be a blend of political intrigue and action. The chapters alternate between three characters- one nonbinary and one bisexual. There were parts I found boring since as mentioned, I did have trouble getting into it, and the plot twists were insane. Although, I did wish the characters and their relationships with each other were more fleshed out, and their interactions not so stiff at times. The concept of the book was nice for me but plot, world-building, and characters could use more depth and better execution. This is a debut novel though, so improvement in the writing is always possible.

Tayler Park

Cristina Cicivelli 

The First Sister is the queer angsty space opera I never knew I needed, and I am so glad that I decided to give it a try because I am completely and madly in love with this book. I know, I often start my reviews in this way, but I swear this time my 5 stars are completely deserved.
I was involved in this story since the first chapter, and while the plot was interesting enough to hold my attention from start to finish what really conquered my heart were the characters. 

The First Sister was probably my favorite one, because at the beginning she is at her worst, she has lost everything and feels completely alone, but throughout the book she slowly realizes her worth and finds the strength she needs to survive (literally) inside herself. There was a scene in particular, towards the end, when she takes an important decision that is basically going to change everything she ever knew, her whole life, and in that moment I felt so proud of the person she has become. And also, her relationship is Ren is probably the cutest and softest thing ever (LITTLE DOVE *insert river of tears*).

Lito is my baby boy that deserves all the love in this world. I adored his character as a whole, most of all how strongly he cares for the people he considers his family: the way he did everything in his power to assure her sister could fulfill all of her dreams and at the end of the day just wanted to make her proud was something so heart-whelming to read. 

And I can’t, unfortunately, talk too much about Hiro without spoiling the book, but I need to acknowledge that they are the strongest person in the whole world and that I hope my non-binary babe will get to have the life they were meant to live, sooner or later.

The plot-twists of this book were absolutely mind-blowing, I swear that when one the biggest one was revealed it left me speechless because I wasn’t expecting it AT ALL, and not in the sense that it was so absurd that is wasn’t sure if it makes sense, but because it fitted so well into the story that I have no idea how I didn’t suspect a thing until the moment of truth. But I mean, that’s what a talented writer does.
The writing style in general is truly incredible: all the emotions, the pain, the love, the doubts, were so raw and so perfectly communicated that you could really feel what the characters were going through. I’m really astonished that this little masterpiece is a debut… wow, just wow.

I adored how this story ‘forces’ the reader to reflect upon how war is not good for neither of the two parts that decided to start it in the first place, and that at the end of the day people from both factions will be so eager for peace that they would be ready to sacrifice everything to achieve it, those (easily forgotten) foot soldiers who have been no more than pawns and instruments in such a cruel game more than anyone else.
But probably what really broke me (just a little) was to realize how, even in the future, even with all the technological developments that have been done, there is always be a part of humankind ready to exploit and experiment on the weakest one. What can I say, at least there will always be heroes ready to stand up for those who can’t protect themselves, both in reality and in fiction.

So… when can I have book 2? I need to know if my babies are going to be okay.

[ I listened to the audiobook and I would totally recommend it, because The First Sister is a book that in my opinion benefits a lot from an oral narration (even if I almost fell off my desk while listening to it, click here to see what quote made me almost die- but at least the author promised to be at my funeral, so no problem). I had a bit of difficulty getting the different names of the various races right, but this was probably my slow brain’s fault, and besides that it was an uphill road. 
There are two main narrators (Lito and First Sister) and another one for Hiro’s messages (the only one I didn’t completely love), and I must say that I really liked to have some sort of concrete way to divide the different storylines. ]

Mina Færing &
The First Sister by Linden Lewis

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Mina Færing &The First Sister by Linden Lewis

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Mina Færing &
The First Sister by Linden Lewis